Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy Lead Week 16 Fantasy Football Boom-or-Bust Candidates

Week 16 fantasy football boom-or-bust targets like Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy offer league-winning upside for playoff matchups where safe points simply won’t be enough.

New York Jets wide receiver Adonai Mitchell (15) makes a touchdown catch against the Atlanta Falcons during the second half at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Most of the time, when fantasy owners are looking for someone to plug into their lineups to fill a hole, they just want to get a guy who will give them some points and not sink their week. However, there are other times when you know that you have to score a ton of points to win. Maybe you already played against Puka Nacua and Matthew Stafford this week. In that case, you need to find a player who can score you a ton of points, even if they come with great risk. These are the top boom-or-bust options for the second round of the fantasy football playoffs in Week 16. 

WR Adonai Mitchell, New York Jets

Mitchell has been finding himself viewed as a boom-or-bust option for weeks now. Over the past six weeks, he has seen at least six targets in every game and a total of 40 targets during that stretch. However, he's only two games during that stretch that weren't disastrous for fantasy owners. He has upside because he is an outstanding athlete with incredible speed and is seeing high volume. The reason he can bust is that he's a bad wide receiver in a terrible offense with Brady Cook throwing him the ball. 

WR Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) celebrates after a play against the Washington Commanders during the first quarter of the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Rashee Rice has been ruled out for Week 16 with a concussion, and Hollywood Brown has been dealing with injury issues of his own. This leaves Worthy as the clear WR1 in Kansas City in a great matchup against the Tennessee Titans, who are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. However, it won't be Patrick Mahomes throwing the ball for the Chiefs after he tore his ACL last week. Gardener Minshew will be under center for Kansas City. He's not the worst option in the world, but he's a huge downgrade. With Worthy already being a risky option with Mahomes, his range of outcomes is even more volatile with Minshew.  

WR Quentin Johnston, Dallas Cowboys

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston (1) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half at SoFi Stadium. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Johnston has been a boom-or-bust option all season. We've seen him explode with massive fantasy games, then do his best disappearing act on any given week. Nevertheless, he's more intriguing than usual this week because he has a matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, who are allowing the most fantasy points in the league to both wide receivers and quarterbacks. He has the most upside on the Chargers with the best possible matchup in the league. We wouldn't be surprised if he put up 30 fantasy points this week, but we also wouldn't be shocked if he put up three fantasy points either.  

TE Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins  

Waller has been great this season, but will have rookie Quinn Ewers throwing him the ball this week. We have seen this offense without Tua in the past, and it has been abysmal. However, they did feature the tight end when he was sidelined last year. They are also playing the Cincinnati Bengals, who are allowing the most fantasy points in the league to tight ends. There is a chance that the Dolphins can't move the ball at all, but if they can, Waller will likely be a big part of the reason why.